
Watch Dr Aimie Peek accept the research grant award and hear a bit about the project.
Project Summary:
Migraine affects 4.9 million Australians, costing the economy $35 billion. One of the reasons for such burden is that chronic migraine is typically treated with a trial and error approach. First line care uses medications originally designed for other purposes such as blood pressure reduction (propranolol) or depression (amitriptyline). As a result these medications are often ineffective or have intolerable side effects. Newer, migraine specific medications such as Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide monoclonal Antibodies (CGRP mAbs) are expensive, and only available after failing three of the first line medications. While these specialised medications have significantly benefited many, the average response rate remains only around 50%, and we do not know who these responders are. Consequently, patients endure a cycle of costly ineffective and sometimes harmful treatments for years, without knowing how they will respond.
Our research aims to provide the first steps in using advanced brain imaging technology to identify who might benefit from CGRP (mAbs) from first point of contact. Our preliminary research has identified two key neurochemicals, GABA and Glutamate, that appear to be different in people with migraine compared to controls and some other pain conditions. In addition, they change as migraine pain, frequency and disability change, and also change in response to successful treatment with CGRP mAbs. Our expert team of neuroscientists and clinicians will continue to work to identify whether these neurochemicals can be utilised to prospectively identify those most likely to respond to CGRP mAb treatment.